M10: Meanwhile... Don't Croak for Me
The sun is only just starting to rise over the horizon, casting long shadows in Nobuhide’s courtyard from the buildings that surround it. It’s a quiet and still morning, save for the shifting of leaves in the wind or the bobbing of grass when drops of dew fall from their long, green stalks. The area was unmoving in a picturesque way, as if the world had deemed the moment so perfect that it slowed down time to allow it to persist. In the central pond of the courtyard, Kaito stands atop a shoot of bamboo that sticks out of the pond, as perfectly balanced and unmoving as the rest of the garden’s flora occupants. With his eyes closed and palms touching in front of his chest, the frog inhales gently, exhales with even less effort, and lets his mind empty and lose focus on the slightest of sounds in his environment - the tiny plop of a dewdrop striking the ground, the donck of the shishi-odoshi as it bounces against the rocks of the pond after filling with water, the gentle pats of ‘mons walking over grass and dirt roads as they make their way about… He becomes deaf to all of them. After all that had happened to Sazanami, to him, Kaito fully feels the shackles pulling down on his mind start to slacken off--'' : Neat trick, Kai, when did you become such a show-off with your little balancing tricks? ''Kaito’s eyes open, and he turns his head to give the other frog a flat stare as he approaches, arms wide in an aimless shrug. : Hey now, don’t act like it ain’t true. If you wanted to waste time meditating just for the purposes of meditating, you’d do it like a normal ‘mon, and sit down on the grass. After taking a brief second to pinch the bridge of his nose and exhale loudly through it to flaunt his exasperation at Bon, Kaito bends his knees ever so slightly, and then shoots himself into the air, where he takes the time to do a quick flip before landing on his feet in front of Bon. : Once again: show off. Did you miss me that much that you feel the need to remind me of all of your tricks? : ... : ‘Cause you don’t have to, I remember them all. I didn’t forget any part of you, even the more annoying ones. : (The frog smiles at his friend, relishing in the ever-tart tongue he possesses.) : Yeah, I see you smiling there, Kai, you were never good at hiding your grins, ya’ big doof! Bon playfully pushes Kaito in the chest, causing the blue frog to let out some guttural croak of amusement and push him back. : Heh, well, as much I love standing around doing and getting nothing done, we don’t have that kind of time to waste, I’m afraid. We need to shove off of this floating spit of crag as soon as time permits. : !! : What? Don’t look so surprised, you must have seen this coming! I certainly can’t stay here, I wasn’t Sazanamese to begin with when the Numa no Ha had decent relationships with the people, so chances of getting inviting to every tea party in the nation after what’s happened to them now are, in fact, exactly a whole whooping negative a hundred percent. : And there’s no way I’m going to leave you alone again! Especially not with all those creeps like Drog still running around, nuh-uh, we’re shipping outta here! : … : Kai, c’mon, stop with all the sad faces! Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll like the mainland. For starters, there aren’t any grumpy weasels or dumb-gut monkeys around to mess you up. : ...though, there is Umbra, but I’ll be damned before I let him so much as breathe in your direction. : But, I’d be equally damned to think that I’m done with the Tellurian Astasia after everything that’s happened, so I’m sorry to say -- mainly because all of them are insufferable, clay-brained ingrates and I hate dealing with them -- that I’ll have to continue dealing with them. Oh, irony, you cruel, cruel mistress. : Regardless, I can tell you about each and every one of those codswallop brigands during our time on the ship. They’ll be a lot of time to kill, believe me, and I’ll be sure to remind that scruffy knot-nest that we wouldn’t be wasting as much time on the sea if we had took MY way back to the mainland. : (The frog shakes his head furiously and desperately starts gesturing with his arms to convey an unspoken message.) : Oh boy, uhhh, you get sea sick? No? Umm, you don’t want to get sick on the ship ride back? You think someone will have a strange rash… or do you have the strange rash? : As impressive as it is that someone such as yourself could achieve a level of friendship where you’d openly discuss your rashes with one another, that is not what he’s trying to tell you. Bon peers out the corner of his eye: the Accelgor leans against the doorway leading back into Nobuhide’s palace. The frog gives an exaggerated roll of his eyes as the clan leader hops towards him. : Oh goooooooood. My favourite bug in the entire bloody world -- Kamen, I’m so happy to see you. Why, I don’t think I could smile more now in your presence unless someone physically pulled my mouth into a smile. : Always a pleasure, Bon. Tssk, if it wasn’t for Kaito-san’s sake, I wouldn’t be talking to you either, but, for him, I will act as a translator. : You? Translate for Kaito? How? I get the insane monkey being able to do it, he has psychic powers, but you? What stupid trick have you been holding back on us? : It’s no trick. I simply am skilled at the art of reading others. : Oh wow, how incredibly bland. Then what’s to say that you can’t be just saying whatever you want Kaito to say to me, huh? : For starters, he can always shake his head if he disagrees with me, unless you think such gestures are too complicated for you. : I think I’ll manage. : Oh good, this will make things easier for you then. Well, let’s not waste any time then, shall we: Kaito-san will not be traveling with you, as per his own choice. : What? Kai, you can’t possibly mean to stay HERE? After everything that happened? : (The frog nods.) : Ugh, what’s gotten into your head, Kaito?! You can’t honestly think you can stay here without any trouble! What even is there waiting for you here?! Goro is dead, Kaito, DEAD! Nothing is tying us back to this gods-forsaken place! : (Kaito winces at Bon’s explosion of arguments, before turning to Kamen and beginning to gesture and mouth words to the bug, who watches him silently.) : I believe what Kaito-san wants you understand is that, while there may not be anything here for you, there are still things here for him. : I also believe he’s implying that the Numa no Ha are at the top of his list. A firm nod from Kaito confirms Kamen’s words, causing Bon’s mouth to drop open. : What? Them? Kaito, they don’t have any organized leader now, they’re nothing. They can’t hope to last on their own anymore, they’ve lost all principles and structure that helps them thrive; they’ll be hunted down and dead before my next age day, most likely. : … : !! (Kaito looks to Kamen with a determined look in his eyes, causing the bug to cast a suspicious glance at him.) : You want to… help them? Lead them? : LEAD THEM? Kaito, what are you thinking?! You never had any interest in such things before, so why NOW? Everything they’ve done to you, how can you think about leading them, or even helping them? : (Kaito shakes his head, looks at Kamen, and cross his arms in front of his chest to make a large X shape.) : Ah, I believe I see. You don’t wish to lead them so much as you wish to… keep them in check. Enforce some guidelines for them, so they do not end up under the leadership of someone else of Goro’s ilk. Kaito nods vigorously and gives Bon a hopeful look. The hope quickly drains from his face when he’s greeted by the look of anger and pain on the other frog’s face. : But what’s the point, Kaito? Even if you found a way to get them all together and working like we used do, which you have no bloody chance of doing after their involvement with the traitor, how are you going to keep the people from ripping them apart? : You wanna know what will happen if you try this, Kaito? You’ll have to defend ninjas, NINJAS, professional killers, from the starving and fear-driven masses of Sazanami! You think a member of the Numa no Ha is going to take a minute to consider why the angry farmer is swinging their hoe at them? If you do, you shouldn’t, you should be thinking that the member will be thinking “Darn, now my clothes are covered in blood,” after they gut that farmer like a fish! Kaito winces and leans away from Bon, causing the Toxicroak to squeeze his eyes shut and shake his head from side to side. : Kai, please, this is so much risk for a reward that is not only impossible to get but not worth anything in the end! Please, PLEASE, just think for a second! : (The Greninja turns to Kamen, and, after a few more gestures, mouthed words, and pointed stares, the Accelgor nods to him.) : Kaito-san has done a good deal of thinking about the very questions and points you’re raising. There are many factors and risks, as you yourself have pointed out, but Kaito-san believes that, now that he has finally been given a chance to confront this issue, he shall not hide from the responsibility. : He believes that he could serve as the assistant to Hoori, the new warlord of the Seiryuu Province, and, with him, work to unite the members of the Numa no Ha and help them earn a relationship of trust with the people of Sazanami once again. : Hoori? Really? You think T-Soup can actually do anything when it comes to dealing with the Numa no Ha members? The little guy can barely travel ten meters without getting winded, you really think he could make a lasting impression on anyone? : (Kaito nods at Bon and stares at him for a long time, no longer gesturing to Kamen, but the bug understands the message the Greninja conveys with his pleading eyes well enough.) : Once upon a time, the two of you together could accomplish more than either of you thought possible. With time -- and perhaps a few lessons in making your tongue stay still -- the people of Sazanami could also learn to trust you as Kaito does. : You can stay too, Bon. : … : No, I really can’t. : !? (Kaito reaches for Bon, but the Toxicroak easily smacks his hand away.) : Suck it up, I don’t care if you’re a Water type or not, I’m not standing for any bloody water-works on your part. : You’ve made your choice, I’ve made mine. It’s pretty clear neither of us is budging on this one. : For your sake, I hope every member of the Numa no Ha became a soft-hearted kinney while I was gone, because you and your precious turtle will end up bent over if they haven’t. While those words said, Bon turns himself away from Kaito and Kamen and begins stomping out of the courtyard. Kaito holds out a hand and calls out for Bon, but all that emerged from his throat is a rasping, wail of a croak. When Bon continues to turn a corner and leaves Kaito’s sight, the Greninja shakes his head dejectedly and lets out several more croaks, each one longer and more pained than the last as he forces every last bit of control he has over his broken speech to try to impart the message he’s desperate for Bon to hear. Suddenly, his knees buckle under him, and Kaito falls down onto the grass, still crying out as loud as he can manage. : (placing a hand on Kaito’s shoulder) Enough, Kaito-san, you’re hurting yourself. : … The blue frog squeezes his eyes shut, and forcefully rubs his palms against his eyelids as his croaks descended into coughs, and then quiet but long whimpers. On the other side of the buildings, Bon stalks away. He doesn’t run, but he moves briskly, with his arms pumping furiously as he walks, head bowed and teeth gritted as he tries to ignore the sounds from the courtyard that grow fainter with every step he takes. He doesn’t look where he’s going -- but he doesn’t care where he’s going either, just needs to be somewhere else. The detriment of not looking forward when he walked becomes apparent to him when he’s within eyesight of other ‘mons. : Hey, Bon! : Were you able to locate Kaito-san? If you were not, I believe I saw him heading towards the Seiryuu Palace earlier, perhaps he is still there. : Yeep, he is, and I found him. Now I’m going somewhere. : Huh, where? : Somewhe''BREEDEET. ''Bon charges past both of them, his head down all the while. The two ‘mons watch him curiously as he hurries off. : Oh wow, did you hear that noise that he made? : What? His croak? : Oh, that was a croak? Wow, it sounded so strange! I mean, sure, frogs do it all the time, but I’ve never heard him make that noise before. : Nor have I. Giving the nature of how and when it came out, I am worried too as to the nature of what caused him to react in such a way. Category:Missions Category:Arc 1 Category:Meanwhiles